#omgcp-themed-fic-recs

[labelleizzy]

Hey Check Please family,

I was actually tickled to death, when postcards to swing states sent me a packet of postcards to send to Georgia. And I think of our boy Eric Bittle every so often as I'm writing these things!

I would love to have a recommendation for a fic to read as a reward for finishing doing another batch of postcards I have written 100 so far and I have 200 total to go.

Have you written, or do you recommend, a story set in Georgia or with Eric's parents as an important part of the story, in which his parents are accepting, loving, and willing to change their mind if they had trouble with him being gay in the first place?

This is actually a lot of work. And I have to mail out for October 24th. I'm going to actually go get acetaminophen and an ice pack for my hand pause for a little while cuz my arms are starting to hurt

[cricketnationrise]

Fic Rec Friday

This week's theme: Rec a fic that starts with the same letter as your username (or, if you like, a part of your username) The rules: Tag a fic that starts with the same letter as your username and describe why it's so good / how it has a hold on you. Then tag some people to see what everyone else is reading. Spread the love! Also, she'll do the round up on Sunday, so if you're still recc-ing on Saturday, no pressure! Please tag @welcometololaland or tag #fic rec friday so she can compile the masterlist.

thanks for the tag @cha-melodius (and now my picks are harder bc our usernames start with the same letter! :p) RWRB: confess my truth (in swooping, sloping cursive) by viciouslyqueer

Camp Llwynywermod by bleedingballroomfloor

Count the Stars and Constellations by @everwitch-magiks

Check Please!: Crossed Wires by @lecrivaineanonyme

Chris Chow, Matchmaker Extraordinaire by 42hrb

Cromwell Cinematic Universe by @sincerelyreidburke (am i cheating because it's a series? yes. i am unrepentant.)

[bonus that fudges the theme but its so fun i can't not: at certain times by @parvuls]

i'm tagging: @celeritas2997 @xthelastknownsurvivorx @the-lincyclopedia @parvuls @thoughtsofthegirlwiththecurl @freebooter4ever @parseisflat @weneedtotalkaboutfic @zimms and @randomnoteforfuturereference bc i'm nosy and want all the recs

[doggernaut]

OMGCP Fic Rec BINGO - Day 2

Previous BINGO (red on this card) is here.

underrated fic • Power Ten by anseladamsfan

This is such a hard category because I love reccing underrated fics—that could be a fic Bingo theme unto itself. I chose this one because I rarely ever see it recced, yet everybody I convince to read it loves it. Jack doesn't overdose in this one, but his hockey dreams still don't come to fruition. Jack as a rower isn't something I'd ever considered before reading this AU, but is so believably makes a case for how he might learn to love—and thrive in—another sport.

has a line you know by heart • Positive Image by twentysomething

Look, I know I rec this fic a lot and I know it’s a fandom classic so you’ve probably read it, too. But, "But there it is. They're stuck in a shitty private airport in Tampa, and he's in love with Bittle. Who is asleep,” is a line I think about frequently. I cannot tell you how many times I've read this one. (This author also wrote one of my favorite Parks and Rec fics, which I loved for years before I read this fic!)

isn't on ao3 • this little future AU by appala (@appalamutte)

Look, I read this little ficlet by @appalamutte the other day and I have not stopped thinking about it. Is this a ploy to get them to write more in this ‘verse? Possibly, but even if this is all that ever exists of it, it’s a perfect little vignette about Bitty and Jack unexpectedly reconnecting after years apart. 

bookmarked recently • jack's kitchen, 10:28pm by cricketnationrise (@cricketnationrise)

Perhaps this is cheating because @cricketnationrise wrote this based on my prompt, but this is my most recently bookmarked fic, so. I love the way this fic portrays Jack’s growing confidence and leadership ability, and the way Bitty knows and takes care of him so well. It’s a little fic that’s packed with so much love.

post-canon • a floorplan (of my head and heart) by meansgirl

If there's one thing I love in this fandom, it's a good post-canon Zimbits fic. I love that this fic doesn't shy away from the hard parts of Jack's retirement and the toll it takes on Jack and Bitty. Change is inevitable, but it's also hard, and this fic is a lovely exploration of endings and beginnings.

[wrathofthestag]

There are so many great OMGCP fics out there that I love to read, and rec, again and again. I decided to group some together, by theme, and share them with you.  I’ll be posting one or two themes a month. Most of the fics are Zimbits-centric.

Theme:  NHL!Bitty

Gettysburg by westernredcedar @thewesternredcedar

Summary: People don’t recognize hockey players out in the world as often as you might think. So Jack is surprised when Providence Falconer Eric Bittle walks through the door and he recognizes him immediately. An all-time favorite! <3

Is it too soon to do this yet? by PorcupineGirl @porcupine-girl

Summary: Jack had first heard of Eric Bittle when he became the first out NCAA men's hockey captain. Then Bittle signed with Toronto, becoming the first out NHL player. That's how Jack met him. Now he's being traded to the Falconers, which means that he and Jack need to have a conversation. Because they've done a lot more than meet since then.

Would That I by lizardsonline

Summary: When Jack Zimmermann does not go back to hockey after his overdose, he throws himself into academia, and seemingly misses his chance with the love of his life. Or so he thought.

NHL!Bitty AU by onawingandaswear by @whoacanada

Summary: Eric Bittle becomes the first openly gay professional hockey player when he's signed by the Seattle Schooners after graduating from Samwell. A series of stories that chronicle how he manages newfound fame, judgment, and a secret relationship with his former college captain.

Someday by angryspaceravenclaw

Summary: Then Bitty leant in to kiss him, and Jack laughed into it, brushing his hands across Bitty’s cheeks, pushing into his hair. “How did you get in?”Bitty pulled back to grin, a little sharp, little wolfish, a lot coy. “Bribery pies don’t just work on college professors, you know.”

not quite the same story by tryslora @tryslora

Summary: Bitty has a plan for his life, and it includes hockey until he graduates but he’s not sure how it’ll fit in after that. Then the Falconers come looking for him, and Bitty has to wonder if maybe the Falconers are exactly what he needs. Or maybe, really, all he needs is Jack.

Size Doesn't Matter by the_one_that_fell @alphacrone

Summary: At a charity event, successful model Jack Zimmermann is introduced to Eric Bittle, the fastest player in the NHL, and things get a little heated.

See You on the Ice, Sweetpea by sweetsoutherncuisine

Summary: During Bitty's senior year, he's scouted by the Houston Aeros and eventually winds up on the team. Tonight is his first game against the Falcs. It'll be the first time he and Jack have seen each other since the start of the season.

NHL!Bitty by JustLookFrightenedAndScuttle @justlookfrightened

Summary: Bitty is playing his first game as a Houston Aero against the Providence Falconers.

Reblog and show these authors some love.

[omgficrecsplease]

Harvest Festival

Author: the_gramophone

Pairing: Bitty/Jack

Rating: T

Setting: Modern AU

Word Count: 4,868

Summary:

Jack's deliveries at The Haus Inn and Restaurant are the highlight of his day - in no small part due to the head chef. If only they could get past this awkwardness that's come between them recently.

Comments: This fic is completely delightful! It gave me all those warm and fuzzy feelings as I was reading. Seriously, this fic is so sweet. I loved it!

[camilliar]

recs for someone new to omgcp

[February 2021.]

Reading, or not reading, OMGCP fics has come up in a couple of conversations I’ve had recently with artists newish to the fandom (ie. @jovishark; @decafffff), who are making OMGCP art (!!!) but haven’t started exploring fic -- but maybe want to? Which of course reminded me that I’ve never bothered to make an actual, concrete recs list for this fandom. So, I mean. Here is one.

The approach is, what do I think about when I think about OMGCP fanfic? What comes to mind, what stands out to me? I have excluded some very popular fics. Some of these I just don’t think are very good, and others I do think are good, and/or I enjoy them, but I don’t see why you’d need me, specifically, to recommend them. I am thinking of a story like maybe i’m waking up, which I discuss below because I link to a podfic of it. It has a lot of merits, to be sure, but it’s the second-most-read fic in this fandom by hits, and it’s got thousands of comments, and it’s by an author whose work is relatively widely praised and circulated. I am not sure what telling you more about this fic will add to the conversation; if you want to find and read it, you inevitably will. I’m happy to, say, answer asks about these kinds of fics, or talk more generally about them via DM or whatever. Feel free.

Also, I don’t think there’s a point to pretending to be objective about fanfic; this list has a perspective and that perspective is mine. In this fandom I largely read stories that navigate the tension around Jack, Bitty, and Parse, in various permutations. This is not to say that I’ve never read fic about the frogs, or that I have no interest at all in other pairings, but I am by no means an expert on Dex/Nursey and can really only speak to the one fic about them that sticks out to me because it goes beyond being merely Dex/Nursey and does something else. This is just to say that I am sure there are great and interesting fics about other things and ideas--but I’m not the person to hear about those from.

Likewise, I’m not super interested in stories that really reproduce that which is already in OMGCP. I like Zimbits--albeit maybe not in the ways or for the reasons most fans would--but I do not really need to see endless iterations of the same story about them falling in love and being cute together. I don’t think these stories are bad or they shouldn’t exist or that they have no merit by default. Still, I don’t need fanfic to give me more OMGCP. I need fanfic to complicate, to comment on, and to transform OMGCP. Many people don’t work like this! Totally okay! But I can’t rec you fics that do that.

What I have noticed, however, is that over time there appears to have been a shift in how people do write fic for this fandom. (Other than, you know, increases and decreases in activity pending the status of the comic, pairings going in and out of vogue, and so on.) Early on, say during Y1 and Y2, the comic was about the group of friends having a cool time at college together; about whether the burgeoning attraction between Jack and Bitty would manifest and, if so, how; and, especially, Jack’s past coming into fuller view for Bitty and how it would have to be dealt with in order for a relationship between them to work. YMMV on how great the comic executed there, but as Y3 went on these themes increasingly disappeared from the story. I think this means a lot of fic written over 2015-2016 or 2017 has one kind of tone, and was written mostly around these questions; after that, it feels like a new crop of writers and a new crop of ideas started circulating, that is, either embracing Jack and Bitty’s canon relationship and accepting its relative straightforwardness in text--or deconstructing it, imagining what readers aren’t seeing, or how problems not dealt with in the comic would manifest later. People who have read my fic know which of these I’m mainly interested in exploring.

All of which is to say, looking at what I’m reccing here, when the fics were posted or when I first read them probably has a lot to do with why they stick out to me so much. Because there’s no real culture of fanfic criticism--and I mean that in the positivist sense of broad evaluation not explicitly for fault and merit but rather, for context--I think it’s really hard to keep this in mind. But I’m obnoxious and I can’t just be easy about things.

Fic recs

In alphabetical order, somewhat unsorted; if a stand-alone fic has a summary I’ve included it, but in other cases I’ve recced a couple of conceptually related fics or series, which I’ve tried to just describe or explain as opposed to copying the summary off AO3.

There are so many more fanfics I think are great and worth reading! In an ideal world I’d come back and add more later, or create a secondary list that’s more along the lines of “if you like this, read these,” or whatever. But, being realistic, this is a starter kit. I’m open to talking about fanfic.

- - - - - - - - - - -

7-0-2 by Idday; Friends in Low Places and Sorry for the Blood in Your Mouth; I Wish it was Mine by blue_rocket_frost | I’m not sure it would be correct to say that I don’t like Parse/Tater, or that I’m not interested in Parse/Tater. I’m not interested in Patater a priori; I think it could be interesting, with teeth. These fics stick out to me when I think about this pairing, because they feel different. Accusations of a preference for just linking any two white men who happen to be hanging around have validity, but because of what hockey is and how it works and who’s hanging around it, it’s not exactly a leap to imagine what kind of gritty spark the friction between two closeted NHL players would create. A little violence in your sex? A little sex in your violence.

A Sight Worth Seeing by sadtomato | A four-fic Jack/Bitty/Shitty/Lardo explicit BDSM series. Either you want that or you don’t. It’s nothing hardcore, and not properly a four-way, really; more properly a kind of voyeuristic round-robin. There’s a more open and egalitarian view of sex here than I really get from the characters in the back end of the comic. It’s an expansive, propulsive view of sex and relationships that’s really nice to see. I love Lardo's detached coolness, and Bitty as a smooth operator; if you’re looking for some kind of Dom/sub dynamics world, this really isn’t it, but it’s a lively exploration into the sexual dynamics in a group of friends that’s super close to the good-times vibe you get from Haus scenes in the first couple years of extras.

call me son (one more time) by Summerfrost, Verbyna, and blithelybonny | This is a series, incomplete, and you will love it or be massively put off by it. I mean that as a compliment. I love it. The premise is, Bob Zimmermann and Kent Parson have been having sex since Kent was, like, 19. Everyone in this story has been chewed up: by themselves, by each other, by hockey. Plainly, this is a pretty bleak view of what OMGCP, as a story, is supposedly offering. If you want fic that is dark and glamorous, treading the toxic melange of substance abuse, sex-as-sublimation, and so much money you can’t possibly throw all of it away without trying, this series has that sick-inducing shimmer to it. But, again, its strength is its examination of Kent Parson, textually and meta-textually, as someone to be projected onto. Bob, Alicia, Jack, and Bitty all impute certain feelings of their own onto him, displacing their own issues to a character who’s centralized in every fic but defies neat or total comprehension. Some critiques I’ve read of this series feel it’s too dark, and I’ve also seen it argued on FFA that an overwhelming amount of praise heaped onto these stories has made it tough for other writers to make headway in writing Bob/Kent fic. But I’m also not sure you could engage with Bob/Kent fic without going down this road at some point? I’m sure there are ways to scale it back, but ultimately it’s a story about how hockey’s violent, homophobic, old-guard gatekeeping has continued to set the terms for a younger and ostensibly less toxic culture. I fully embrace PWP fics that tread on the power dynamic without fully excavating it, but buried within any PWP is the fact that a 53-year-old man is ensnaring a 19-year-old, no matter how much the latter is, realistically, into it, and legally empowered to consent. Not to mention the dynamics of it being a 53-year-old man who is the father of the 19-year-old’s ex-boyfriend, and a 53-year-old man who is an eminence grise in the field the 19-year-old is trying to make a career in  The sexual element--the vaguely incestuous nature of it--is making textual the subtext of how hockey works, actually: objectification of teenage bodies as older men’s capital.

Coach Z by thistidalwave | Just before the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, tp prospect Jack Zimmermann overdoses on his anxiety medication and is admitted to rehab. His future turns from a clear-cut road to the top into an uncertain path filled with therapy appointments, ignored text messages, a group of boys who aren't there to teach him a lesson about himself, and, of course, hockey. | I keep reccing this fic because it has 360 comments on AO3 but nobody, as far as I can tell, has ever read it; it never appears on rec lists. This isn’t the kind of fanfic I usually go in for, but I can’t help being charmed by it. This is a character study in the truest sense, a kind of Mighty Ducks-but-better view on what Jack’s time coaching peewee hockey might have been like. I have no interest in kids and my own aesthetic is maybe a little darker than this, but I admire this story because it injects vibrancy into a period of Jack’s life that OMGCP has left largely unexplored, and so has the fandom. We know nothing about what made Jack want to go to college, nothing about how he spent his days in between juniors and Samwell. It posits a very sympathetic and patient Jack/Parse dynamic, showcasing the exact kind of ragged teenage push-and-pull that would have led to the circumstances we see in Parse I-III. The outside perspective Jack needs is largely present in an OFC who’s not a love interest. Super unique, somehow both engrossing and low-key.

#dirtbags by angularmomentum | A series that is a Kent Parson/Claude Giroux fuckfest with feelings. I’ve long suspected that Parse is popular in part because he is the character who most easily elides OMGCP with the actual NHL, or rather, NHL fandom; I think he made it appealing to write OMGCP fics where the NHL is a factor. Case in point, this series, which is basically “what if Kent Parson was a real hockey player and therefore part of NHL RPS”? I have only read some NHL RPS, so I’m not the person to assess accuracy, but what I do know is superstar IRL hockey players take turns here as the caricature fanfic versions of themselves, and since Kent Parson is already that, it’s great how seamlessly he integrates into their social fabric. Rambunctious energy peppered with regret and loss, but ultimately this series is farcical, and it doesn’t take its sentimental ending too seriously--which, good.

fated to pretend by nighimpossible | 5 Jack/Kent fics that Ransom and Holster dramatically reenact for the Haus + the truth. | As a fic format, 5+1 doesn’t usually work for me, but this one isn’t just front-loaded with five too-knowing vignettes; it then wraps up by using its +1 better than you might expect. Sometimes I talk about economy of fic, and this one exemplifies it. A zero-waste fic.

go ahead and move along by originally | "Leave, Parse," Jack says. Again. Or: Kent finds himself stuck in a time loop. | Kent Parson is trapped in a Groundhog Day scenario on the day of Epikegster. I’m sure you can imagine, just from that, what happens. And yet I think this fic is super entertaining, reserving some key surprises. What this story is doing is something a lot, and perhaps even the majority, of great Jack/Parse fic wants to do: digging into the question of just why this can’t work in comic canon. Most often this is approached from the past, by writing teenage Jack/Parse deep-dives that examine their lives mid-juniors, or by writing AUs where enough circumstances are shifted that it does work, or via future fics that posit enough growth has happened, and enough things have changed. But this fic makes Parse live the same bad day again and again, testing multiple theories about just how dependent on circumstance and incident real life actually is. Another day, another tone, 10 minutes sooner, not at all--you just can’t know why it didn’t work until you exhaust every possible variable. I worry that this rec has sucked the life out of the story, though--it’s so fun!

I Saw a Life and Strange Lovers by @bluegrasshole | Most AUs in this fandom seem to retell the story in a new setting or with some big detail change, following OMGCP’s rhythm beat-for-beat. I think of this as, “It’s the plot of Check, Please, but” -- they’re doing high school football? They’re acrobats? They’re a/b/o? They’re in a DIY punk band? And so on. These two stories are not that! They’re both 1950s AUs, each deeply felt, and yet hugely different from each other. I Saw a Life is about displacement and fragmentation, two sides of a similar but incongruent social critique; Strange Lovers is a finely wrought social drama about coal mining in Nova Scotia in the 1950s, centered around historical events. I suppose a theme on this rec list is something like, “I don’t even like this, but” -- yes, okay, I don’t even like Dex/Nursey, but--! This fic is so overwhelmingly complete, the AU laid out so carefully that the story breathes with all the background details informing the writing that aren’t actually, in the story; you just know they’re below the surface. (With the exception of one investigation of Jack’s character in a short, separate fic.) I Saw a Life, meanwhile, really tests the limits of the notion that Jack and Bitty are soulmates--not by calling it into question but by asking, rather innovatively, how the setting and place of the comic itself activates that.

Les Hivers de mon enfance by staranise | What do you do when hockey is the language of prayer for your soul, and also the toxic thing that almost killed you? 2009: Jack Zimmermann takes a mental health year. God knows he needs it. | Here’s a fic by someone who’s no longer around so much, but she felt ubiquitous in 2016-2019 OMGCP fandom. Before any of that, though, she wrote this one lovely fic about Jack’s pre-Samwell recovery. The author is Canadian and really irritated by hockey culture, and I think this fic benefits greatly because she is clear-eyed about Jack’s being caught in an exploitative system; it’s hockey he’s in recovery for, in a way. There’s an epistolary element that works for me, too. I read this early on in my time in OMGCP fandom and it really stuck with me.

Lysistrata? I Hardly Know Her! (by which I mean everything) by @tomatowrites | It feels somehow like cheating to recommend OMGCP fanfics by my OMGCP BFF with whom I make an OMGCP podcast where we talk about OMGCP. You know the fics I really want to rec, like truly the ones that speak to some kind of shared depravity, are the ones where Jack is miserably mpreg for the second time and accidentally lets his kid see Kent Parson’s Long John Silver’s shrimp scampi promo spot, which obviously would get twisted into a self-hating three-way. How many times do I have to rec this fic? As many as I need to, is my feeling. If you don’t know, Long John Silver’s is an American fast-food chain that sells, like, fried pollock sandwiches; it is nautical-themed; I have never eaten there; I don’t know where there is one; I don’t eat fried fish. (Shrimp, on the other hand?) All of which is to say that it takes a real genius to investigate a premise that far out. And while a lot of people almost certainly will start reading this humanity’s depths-themed sex scene and back the fuck out, readers with refined taste will note that Kent, the point-of-view character, is right there with you, despairing that he can’t help himself. And so long as you’re in that story collection, honestly, you’ll love petite gems like Jack is transmasc, Jack and Shitty play hockey in 18th-century England, and oh, right, he’s from Georgia. Tomato holds the distinction of being probably the gamest author I know in this fandom, just really like fearless in her pursuit of any range of concept she’s pushed to. (I can push her to?) See, for example, a sublime bandom AU; Bitty is cancelled for buying a maybe-unethically exported Roman fragment of a youth’s torso; or, god, the masterwork that is this future fic series where Jack keeps relapsing and Bitty exiles him to their guesthouse. Do I think you need to read a fic where Bitty is snide about the teen prostitute whose baby they’re adopting? Yes, I mean, he would be snide, don’t tell me he wouldn’t. I could go on, but my main thing here is, if I have to pick just one, I’m going to pick this Lysistrata fic. The premise, literally, is that Bitty reads the Lysistrata and it gives him ideas. Like most of Tomato’s OMGCP fic, it’s a stripping away of the comic’s polite fiction that Jack and Bitty could possibly attain the ideal it reaches in the comic without some kind of messy, efflusive breakdown. Life is like that, you see! Tricky. Like a lot of people, although it’s tough to say precisely how many, I have always intuited that maybe Bitty is kind of a natural top? But obviously when you meet him, as a literal virgin, it’s hard to see how he’d go from zero to self-actualization so neatly. This fic floats a theory, and it has a fun little side plot for Whiskey, something I never thought about or needed before Tomato built it out herein. In conclusion, BONUS: Dex’s gay lobster novel.

only fools rush in and the light of all lights by decinq | This person wrote of the nature of the wound, one of the early, formative Jack/Bitty fics that was oft-recced when I was getting into the fandom in 2016. It forms part of a larger series that deals deeply with how Jack has been shaped by his struggles (? I hate this word) with homophobia and his own mental health. It’s a picture of the character as you might have imagined him much earlier in the comic’s run. The formatting is atrocious and he author’s flair is what Tomato would call “AO3 house style.” It’s a voice that works great for her writing. I think it’s at its best in these shorter fics; the former is about Parse and Shitty stumbling into a relationship almost accidentally; the latter, an eerie PBJ vampire fic. I had begun writing a fic where Parse is a vampire early on in this fandom, only to read this and immediately quit, because you only need one, and this one’s all I need. The Parse/Shitty rare pair fic shares its exuberance with hockey RPS when it’s good: here’s how fun it can be when you’re young, rich, and jocular. And I don’t even like accidental marriage AUs, they’re usually boring, so that says a lot. By all means, read the wound fic; read the entire series. But these are highly unusual.

OVERDOSE and Oomph and a little spin-o-rama by jedusaur | None of these are long, or plotty, and they’re all a little experimental. OVERDOSE is an AU set in a world where you know how you’ll die, but no details; Oomph, a little fic where Jack hears hockey pucks talking to him. This is the kind of stuff I used to think I’d find in fandom forever, coming out of Lotrips lurking in the 2000s: short, zany bursts of energy that surprise and delight. a little spin-o-rama peers at Kent’s character through the grim reality of being the hypertalented superstar stuck on a dead-last team. All three are sparse and stylish in a way that’s really smart, practically economical.

Sowing Season by @agrossunderstatement | Parse and Zimms, Zimms and Parse. Kent Parson's life, from the Q, through his early years with the Aces, to Jack's senior year. Canon divergent. A story of love, loss, moving on, regressing, hockey, and found families of all kinds. | Effectively a novel, digging into Kent’s personal history, mostly concerning his life in juniors but expanding into his present, overlapping with the plot of OMGCP. I think there is room enough for endless speculations on what went down pre-canon; this one offers a fuller life for Kent than nearly any others, digging into him as a whole person rather than as a satellite to Jack or the plot of the comic. Which isn’t to say that the Kent/Jack stuff isn’t dealt with here; it explicitly is. But the fact of Kent Parson’s life, if we can begin to imagine it beyond mere text, would exist before, after, and alongside Jack; he gets to juniors without Jack, presumably, and he is the captain of a hockey team without Jack, and Pinkerton lays the foundation of Parse’s character within a junior hockey that Jack also inhabits, more so that Parse existing for Jack, so to speak. And I’m not implying this latter tactic is wrong; I have certainly employed it, and others have employed it to great impact and effect. But, still, the title of this series tells you what you ought to know: Kent and his story are the potentiality of OMGCP, up to a point; seeds being planted. Young hockey players, similarly. The question implied there is, what will be reaped? And the answer to the latter, in a sense, that reaping is a sort of violence. Which makes this series sound pretty heavy, but it’s not -- more like, realistic.

(tell everyone) you were a good wife by @queerofcups | The biggest problem with pretending that he doesn’t know that Kent Parson is fucking his husband is that Jack can’t tell Kent how grateful he is. | The ne plus ultra of PBJ triangulation; I’ve been squealing to the writer about how good it is since August, begging for behind-the-scenes insights, and I’d only do that if I really meant it. The precarious social fabric stretched across these three chapters is fraying before the reader’s eyes. The details are delicious, and I don’t want to spoil them, but they sing in chorus with the plot. My favorite OMGCP fics, honestly, remove the romance narrative guardrails that keep things in the comic itself humming along. I think Dann’s take is to ask who in this comic has power and what they would end up doing with it. (Or not doing, from another angle.) At one point, early on in its telling, OMGCP looked like it was going to be a story dealing with the compounded traumas of hockey’s discontents. Then, of course, it wasn’t. This is a fic that steps back and asks what the fallout of that oversight would be. But that’s just the moldering core of this fanfic; it’s actually embroidered, like I said, with glittering detail. The color of the suit Bitty wears to his wedding is burned into my brain. The gray manicure of a woman Jack knows. The ingredients in a cake. This is one of those fics I still haven’t reviewed because the thought of stacking everything I could say about it into mere AO3 comments is inadequate.

when you’re ready by megancrtr | The Aces’ director of communications gets the call at 3:13 a.m. Jack Zimmermann has withdrawn from the draft. | “What happened at the draft” is so mythological it gets asked in the comic proper, and I’ve never counted how many fics attempt to answer this question--from Kent’s point of view, even--but it’s gotta be, oh, hundreds. This story replays the situation from the perspective of an Aces staffer who just wants to do her job, and gets at the jarring discordance between the plot of OMGCP in its quest for social justice and the business of actual hockey. Important context is that this story was written around the time the comic was playing out the end of Y3 and start of Y4, and Bitty pointedly asked Jack the question, “why can’t we?” This story reframes the question as literal, rather than rhetorical. A sterling example of fanfic being a gloss on its source.

BONUS, podfics

hockeyed up | There are many things on Jack's mind. Namely: hockey, hockey, Bitty, hockey, anxiety, hockey, hockey, anxiety, Bitty, hockey, hockey, anxiety, and hockey. | A fic read aloud by its French-Canadian author. Also a relatively early OMGCP fanfic; composed while the first semester of Y2 was posting, the story suggests a version of OMGCP that was in some ways more and in other ways less complex than what it would turn into not long after. The real power of this podfic, however, is that it’s read by the writer, so you can hear the intended emphasis in every line. Also, because she’s French-Canadian, Sophie’s intonation is what I picture when I read or write dialogue for Jack.

maybe i’m waking up | It’s almost funny. All he ever wanted was to play hockey, to play in the NHL, to win the Cup. This—Samwell, the team, the Haus—was supposed to be just a detour, but now it feels more like a destination he failed to realize he’s already reached.(Or: Jack signs with the Falconers, graduates, and leaves. It's the hardest thing he's ever done. What comes after is even harder.) | Don’t get too excited; this isn’t finished. A podfic of probably the best-known, most-recced fic in OMGCP fandom. Striking for its use of metatext woven into the story, this is one of several early longform Jack/Bitty fics that posits that maybe Jack has a lot more development to undergo before he can really, truly, be okay--or be okay enough to be with Bitty? To be honest, this story strikes me now as too long, but the parts in it that work are effective beyond that which fanfic demands. Meanwhile, this audio version only covers six chapters, but it’s so slick, so well-realized, so true to the story. Podfic as art.

my own dear friends | Ever since the day he met Jack Zimmermann, Shitty has seen it as his solemn duty to aggressively love him. (He just didn't know how aggressive the love Jack needed would be.) | There’s previous little Jack/Shitty in this fandom and a lot less quality BDSM,

the city’s ours until the fall | Kent has been, historically, good at this—forgetting about things until suddenly he doesn’t, and then it’s like the scar has never been there in the first place, just the wound. (Or: Kent Parson lets himself be happy, after all this time.) | I’ve never read this fic and I never will. I cannot imagine how, no matter how good it is, it could compare to the version that lives in my head, with Kent’s voice so totally realized. Vocal fry and pathos, a languid energy that I still think about when I think about Parse.

the model home | It’s going to be better, and that’s great, but sometimes Jack thinks, why can’t it be good right now? | j/k j/k, this is a self-reminder to finally one day review this.

[bexterbex]

Welcome back to Fic Rec Friday. Last week people seemed pretty excited for it, and not just the authors of those works. Since a lot of us have some time on our hands I’ve got some more recommendations for you. Remember not all the fics are Star Wars/Star Trek related. I like a lot of different stuff, and this reflects that. 

Some Authors You Should Check Out (because they’ve got a lot of good work that I would recommend):

@amadwomanrambles​ She writes a lot for Hux, and is really good at it too. If you like period AUs like medieval or Victorian she is your gal. Go check out her stuff here or on her Ao3 

@neeharlowwrites​ Writes for Kylo Ren, mostly Reader inserts or for her OC Noctrisha. I know a lot of you that follow me are thirsty for Kylo so go look at her stuff. Her Ao3 is here. 

@galacticcannibalism​ Writes for Poe & Kylo, and for Connor from DBH. She’s got a lot of thirst to share. So go look at here Ao3. 

Ok, now onto some none Star Wars stuff: 

I know the omgcp! fandom is huge on tumblr, but there is another fictional hockey writer you should check out and its @youcouldmakealife​. Their Original Story is so vast and so detailed that honestly, they don’t get enough love or credit for. As a hockey fan myself I have always enjoyed their writing. So check out their Ao3. Honestly Vinny needs to get a life. 

Loki x Reader - Give me Love by @animefreak141​

Loki won... the Earth is thrown into chaos, and you are taken away to become one of his 'girls'. In reality that really means you are a slave... servant... sex toy...

One night, The God of Mischief invites you to spend the night with him, leading the both of you down a path neither could have ever imagined...

Some of the themes in this are pretty heavy, but really good. Check it out if you can. [Status: Complete]

To Stumble Into Your Soulmate by thatwritinggirl on Ao3 

For thousands of years, humans have evolved so that their hearts will glow a brilliant gold when they meet their soulmate. Not everyone found their soulmate in their lifetimes, but as you watched the soft white glow of your heart, you knew that you would, one day. You watched the gentle pulse of the light, beating in time with your soulmate's heart, until you fell asleep. The next day you would embark on your own adventure, finally working towards your dreams. But when your cab from Heathrow gets in a nasty accident, your heart seemed brighter. After wandering the halls of St. Bartholomew Hospital, you enter one of the labs only to find the most gorgeous man you had ever seen, and your hearts both glow a blinding gold as you finally find your soulmate.

What now?

Another really good soulmate AU, this time a BBC! Sherlock/Reader. It’s really good so go check it out. If anyone know’s their tumblr handle (if they have one) let me know as I will gladly add it. [Status: Complete]

I will be recommending a number of works every Friday. Please check the tags of the fic before you read them, just incase you see something you don’t like. My philosophy is IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT THEN CLICK OFF.

NOTE: These are works that I enjoy, you don’t have to like them. I am open to suggestions but I can be very picky about what I actually enjoy. I have consumed a lot of work, but there are only so many that I would recommend. No hate on any authors work but this is my opinion.

[yoursummerfrost]

3, 9 (for the douchifer sleep fic), 12, 33, 38 and 39! also im gonna rec @spinner-dolphin's mermaid fic bc even though it's not finished yet it had me absolutely fucking howling (archiveofourown(.)org/works/18968431)

That fic looks amazing!! Def gonna check it out :D

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.I’ve actually never tried to write a reader insert before. I think it takes a specific skill set to write a good reader insert, because you want lots of people to be able to imagine themselves in the story! I personally enjoy the process of fleshing out an OC more and tailoring them to the needs of the story.

9) In When You Met Me, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?Hmm. Actually, I think it’s this tiny little scene right here:

"Daniel?" Lucifer asks, gently swirling his wine around in its glass. "If you're protecting me, who looks after you?"

Dan looks up from twirling spaghetti on his fork, all the certainty itching where his skin meets the bone.

"You will," he says. "Won't you?"

Lucifer's eyes are wide with an emotion Dan can't hope to describe. He says, "Yes, I suppose I will," and steals half a chicken cutlet off Dan's plate.

Because it’s such a soft little moment, and it’s really the crux of the whole fic--these two hurt people looking after each other. My second fave scene to write was probably the ending, which comes right after this.

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?Hmm. I feel like sheer wordcount-wise the answer is clearly Dan (or Bitty from OMGCP, though I’m pretty squarely out of that fandom now). I’m also really interested in writing some stuff from Eve’s POV, because I adore her and I think her journey is fascinating. I enjoy writing Dan because there are a lot of themes in his character to explore that I like to unpack, and so many different directions to take his relationships (especially with Lucifer) based on where you are in the story. 

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?Oh man, this is tough because I’m really grateful for so much of the positive feedback I’ve gotten. I think the most meaningful to me has been the people who read my stories about Miley, an autistic OC I co-created with @soundslikepenance and @blithelybonny, and told me that they felt represented by him in a way that they don’t often get to feel. I feel similarly about comments I get on other stories when someone feels seen like that, but Miley is particularly dear to me. (Read about Miley as part of the Suitehearts series!)

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.I feel like this is a cop-out answer because we collab all the time, but @soundslikepenance and @blithelybonny are honestly forever my dream team, my #hellsquad, my hivemind

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person?I used to really prefer first person, but fandom has converted me to third person. That being said, I like a really “tight” third person POV, where it’s not only limited but feels like it’s deep within the POV character’s head and narrated in their voice. I think that’s definitely influenced by my roots in first person POV original fiction reading/writing. 

[omgpieplease]

I am also from michigan, and it is driving me crazy that there isnt a lot of red wings love in the omgcp fandom (i havent seen a single bit actually). like.. why?? and do you know if there is and and I'm just missing it?

Okay SO. Yeah its sad that most of the team love seems to go to the Pens here but there are only so many teams that are connected to the characters (ie Jack’s dad’s teams aka Montreal and the Pens, Tango likes NJ, Chowder the Sharks etc.) I guess it make sense that the love goes elsewhere??? 

THAT ASIDE. I uh....may have poured through my bookmarks for fics that even MENTION Detroit. And there are a couple.(There’s ONE that I remember COMMENTING on about the way they wrote about a Detroit game and it was spot on and I wish wish wish I could see a record of what fics I’ve commented on so that I could FIND it because it really made my day at the time but oh my god there’s just so much out there. I couldn’t find it but I’ll keep my eye out for that ONE)So anyway because our boys don’t get too much love or attention, this is more like a list of Fic Recs where the unifying theme of the list is that Detroit or the Red Wings are mentioned at least once LMFAOA Little Bit Closer by marswithghostsBeing In Motion by marswithghostsNeighbors (Part 2) by JustLookFrightenedAndScuttle

(More than a Red Wings mention in this one- we get another Detroit Sports mention ;D) Rabbit of Negative Euphoria, or Not a Happy Bunny by zaftig_darling and! Our Wings get more than a passing mention in the fic below!!Springtime and Possibilities by JustLookFrightenedAndScuttleI so so wish I could find that other one ugh. IF ANYONE REMEMBERS ANY OTHER FIC WHERE THE RED WINGS ARE MENTIONED or if PVD plays them and the game is described oh lordy please let me know because I could have sworn there’s a fic where there’s a game and players are actually named and stuff and it’s a good bit of hockey writing.

[omgcpwomen]

Saturday, March 4th

Opening ceremonies

Share your favourite headcanons about the women of OMGCP!

Rec/reblog/comment on the works you love most about and/or by women – fics, art, moodboards, playlists, videos, whatever!

HoliDay

Share any works themed around your favourite holiday.

Birthdays, Halloween, Chanukah, Easter, St Patrick’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, Christmas… the possibilities are endless!

Make sure to properly tag your works if NSFW.

Don’t forget to add your works to the omgcpwomenfest collection on ao3 if posting there, or tagging them with #omgcpwomenfest on tumblr!

Woman of the day: Alicia Zimmermann!

[wrathofthestag]

There are so many great OMGCP fics out there that I love to read, and rec, again and again. I decided to group some together, by theme, and share them with you.  I’ll be posting one or two themes a month. Most of the fics are Zimbits-centric.

Theme:  Horror, Thriller, Spoopy Fun

NB, In time for Halloween---mind the tags. I curate these, but it's up to you if you want to read them. Don't come @ me.

I Howl and I Whine by PorcupineGirl @porcupine-girl

Summary: While it's not particularly strange that Jack Zimmermann is in Eric Bittle's food history seminar, it's downright shocking that the incredibly hot captain of the hockey team might actually be interested in him. Even more surprising is the fact that Jack happens to be best friends with the owner of a husky that came through the animal shelter where Bitty works a few weeks ago. A husky whose name also happens to be Jack. Jack, meanwhile, has problems of his own. Chief among them: The fact that he is both the cute boy in Bitty's food seminar and the husky he cared for at the animal shelter.

Heart of Ice by flowerfan @flowerfan2

Summary: Bitty and Jack have been dating happily since Jack’s graduation. When Jack mysteriously disappears, right after winter break during Bitty’s senior year, Bitty is devastated. The media assumes he had another overdose, but Bitty doesn’t believe it. A few hints emerge, but no real answers. Bitty struggles to stay hopeful. When Jack finally resurfaces… he’s changed.

glory & gore by the_one_that_fell @alphacrone

Summary: When Johnson first invited him to partake in ritual sacrifice, Bitty laughed at him. “What’s that- y’all gonna sacrifice a keg to the hockey gods?”

Within these walls by actualkon

Summary: July 12th 2009The house sits alone in the middle of the neighborhood, run down, a ‘for sale’ sign stuck in unkempt, thick grass; the only house on fraternity row that remained vacant.

Better Than Wikipedia by BaegentWashington (onesaltydemon) @onesaltydemon

Summary: Eric Bittle knew there were several things that were special about Jack Zimmermann. He was really smart, had a great butt, and could effortlessly shift between English and French. Still, there was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

anything for one more hour of light by the_one_that_fell @alphacrone

Summary: Bittle was laughing just before the bus crashed.

Bromancy by Pinkerton @agrossunderstatement

Summary: Remember the time Jack said the couch growled at him? A story of magic, babies, romance, bros, and too many pies.

Poor Wayfaring Stranger by MaraMcGregor @maramcgregor

Summary: Bitty's been a vampire for 7 years. He is finally living (sort of) a stable life well away from his vampire hunting family. One night, a handsome stranger comes into his bakery in the middle of the night. He knows exactly who it is. Jack Zimmermann, of the notorious Zimmermann hunting family. And everything had been going so well.

Strange Beings by Joanne_Lupin @fightmekentparson

Summary: Catching feelings is hard enough. Catching feelings for the only person in the world who can see or talk to you? That really, really sucks.

A Blessing That Comes Nightly by MapleleafCameo @mapleleafcameo

Summary: It's the dark in the night, it's the dark in your head, when the vampires come for you.

Definitely Not A Ghost Problem by rewmariewrites @and-still-not-a-ginger

Summary: Ransom is not afraid of ghosts, because ghosts don’t exist.

Buyer Beware by MaraMcGregor @maramcgregor

Summary: Bitty is an angry/vengeful spirit in a house that Jack moves into. Bitty didn't survive that night in the closet in 7th grade. He's been haunting his old childhood home ever since. Jack moves in after being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers, completely unaware of the history of the house.

Take Me in Your Arms and Leave the Rest by omgericzimmermann (HMSLusitania) @hmslusitania

Summary: After an injury takes Jack out of his short-lived NHL career, he's left drifting. So he buys a house and decides to rebuild it. Fortunately, he's got a cute neighbour to keep him company.

Reblog and show these amazing authors some love.

[wrathofthestag]

There are so many great OMGCP fics out there that I love to read, and rec, again and again. I decided to group some together, by theme, and share them with you.  I’ll be posting one or two themes a month. Most of the fics are Zimbits-centric.

THEME:  Other Sports AUs

 a winning formation (left side, strong side) by ambrosius

Summary: When Bitty is traded from the Atlanta Falcons to the Providence Knights, he quickly clashes with prized NFL quarterback and new teammate, Jack Zimmermann. But what follows is a football season full of up-and-downs, and a realization that maybe Bitty is right where he belongs.

Fire Away by Angryspaceclawraven

Summary: When pitching prodigy Eric Bittle leaves Georgia State for Samwell, he's not sure what to expect--though very little is a surprise.  It's a frat haus with a lot of beer and a lot of bros.  But he doesn't expect to earn the ire of the Baseball team Captian, Jack Zimmermann, a man with an arm like a god, and the world's biggest chip on his shoulder who hates pitchers--even those on his own team.  Bitty just wants to survive to graduation, play good baseball, and maybe find love in his life.  If only the universe agreed with him.

Better With Time by foryouandbits @foryouandbits

Summary: This fic follows two similar timelines from Eric Bittle's childhood: the past where he meets his best friend Drew, grows apart from his father the football coach, and experiences the repercussions of being a young gay boy in the South; and the present where he finds new friends and falls in love with Jack Zimmermann, star quarterback of Coach's new high school team.

The Rules We Made Up by Airplanesandcookies (Mosgirllee) @airplanesandcookies

Summary:  Eric plays football.  Jack plays hockey.  They still somehow manage.

As We Run, We Become by IBoatedHere

Summary: Five times Jack wakes Bitty up to go running and one time he doesn't.

You See, it Feels Like I'm Starting to Care by RabbitRunnah @doggernaut

Summary: Jack's always been most at home on the ice. But sometimes he does his best thinking while he's running.

heavy on the sugar by wit @parvuls

Summary: Jack, captain of the hockey team, refuses to deviate from his boring coffee order. Bitty, a barista at Annie's, refuses to accept the situation. They somehow become friends.

Reblog and show these amazing authors some love.

[wrathofthestag]

There are so many great OMGCP fics out there that I love to read, and rec, again and again. I decided to group some together, by theme, and share them with you.  I’ll be posting one or two themes a month. Most of the fics are Zimbits-centric.

Theme:  Señor Bunny

lost and found by nightswatch (an all-time favorite <3)

Summary: The adventures of Jack Zimmermann and Señor Bunny.

maybe i want to do what bunnies do with you by wedelia Summary: Eric can tell he made the right decision.

An Old Friend by Wanderlust14

Summary: Jack meets Bitty's oldest friends while down in Madison

Jack Meets Señor Bunny by IBoatedHere Summary: “I can do it,” Jack says. “I have a little sewing kit, you know, for emergencies like sewing on a button. I could try and fix him.”

Pauvre Goose by boomsherlocka

Summary: Bittle is sick. Jack is worried. Stuffed animals are purchased via Amazon Prime.

Lapinou by little0bird

Summary: The inspiration for this ficlet came from one of Ngozi's extra comics where she imagines what happened if Jack discovered Bitty had Senor Bunny on the bus.

I'm sticking my Bun fic in here! :D

Señor Bunny by WrathoftheStag

Summary: Dicky never found it strange that Señor Bun could talk, nor that he could only speak Spanish. Somehow, the two managed. The life, and love, of a boy and his stuffed bunny.

Reblog and show these authors some love.

[wrathofthestag]

There are so many great OMGCP fics out there that I love to read, and rec, again and again. I decided to group some together, by theme, and share them with you.  I’ll be posting one or two themes a month. Most of the fics are Zimbits-centric.

THEME:  Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Heart of Wire by Downward Stroke (casual_distance) Summary: Jack’s programming has been changing ever since he was sent to Samwell, but it’s different than the last time this happened.

Where No Bittle Has Gone Before by orphan_account Summary: Eric Bittle isn't the first half-Betazoid on a Starfleet ship, but those who came before him were not welcome, so he plans to keep what he is secret.  It's not so easy, however, when he's assigned to the Falconer, under the newly appointed Captain Jack Zimmermann-- a person with a past, who does not appreciate weakness.   Eric doesn't know if he can get past the icy exterior of his captain, but he's nothing if not stubborn.

180 Pomegranate Seeds  by foryouandbits  @foryouandbits​​ Summary: Jack, the god of the spring, is the son of Alicia, the goddess of the harvest, and Bob, the god of the sky. Having spent his entire life on Earth with his mother, he cannot shake the feeling that there is more than just his duties to the land. There are whispers of the god of the underworld, the ruler of a place full of horror, but Jack finds himself inexplicably drawn to it. Who is the god of the underworld and why is he so terrifying? Why won’t anyone answer Jack’s questions?

Breakaway by AntarcticBird @antarcticbird​​ Summary: The first time Jack sees him is at the beginning of his sophomore year at Samwell, a completely normal Monday night, and at first he thinks he has gone insane.

Enamored by foryouandbits  @foryouandbits​ Summary: Following a crippling injury, Sir Jack of Samwell has been dismissed from the Knights of the High Court. Six months later, he learns of a position within Bittle Castle: King Eric, despite his recent wedding to Princess Larissa of Boston, wishes to hire a concubine to his court. Jack, unable to find employment due to his injury, decides to apply for the position. He uncovers more than he expected upon meeting the king, and begins a new life seeking to please his liege in any way possible.

Just A Little Touch by PorcupineGirl  @porcupine-girl​ Summary: Bitty had spent his entire life avoiding touching alphas as much as he could, thanks to his deep-seated fear that he would have an alpha soulmate whose scent he couldn't possibly be attracted to. So he really, really, wished this hot new alpha would stop coming into his bakery and being all sweet and handsome and flirting with him and ugh. It would be nice if the guy would at least come in when he wasn't wearing scent blockers, so Bitty could smell him and get over him.

Jack was one of a handful of omegas in the NHL. When he found a new bakery whose pastries smelled downright addictive, the cute beta owner was a bonus. Dating a beta man would be a risk, and he'd need to find an opportunity to ask the guy out when he wasn't at work... But Jack was starting to think it might be worth it.

Don’t keep your distance by actualkon  Summary:  The kingdom of Montré has, for centuries, been isolated in the snowy mountains, holding its wisdom and secrets of magic close to its heart. Now, for the first time, the kingdom is forging an alliance with the neighboring kingdom of Samwell; their princes, Jack and Eric, are married off to each other. With their fathers dealing with a potential invasion, and their mothers ruling in their place, Jack and Eric are left in a palace on the outskirts of Montré to become familiar with one another.

Hold It All At Bay by psocoptera Summary:  The theory of extrapolative synchronization of the mirror neurons was debunked back when he was still in his teens, so Jack is reluctant to mention that he can smell Bitty's pies baking from across campus.

Easy as Pie by MapleleafCameo  @mapleleafcameo​  Summary: It's hard enough to have a crush on your team captain without pies magically appearing every time you speak to him.

What I want to feel, I want to feel it now by RabbitRunnah @doggernaut​ Summary: Eric Bittle knows the way his life is supposed to go: According to an old family curse, the love of his life will take one bite of his famous apple pie and fall madly in love with him. And they'll live happily ever after.  There's only one problem: Jack Zimmermann doesn't like pie.

Reblog and show these amazing authors some love.

[wrathofthestag]

There are so many great OMGCP fics out there that I love and read, and rec, again and again. I decided to group some together, by theme, and share them with you.  I’ll be posting one or two themes a month. Most of the fics are Zimbits-centric.

Theme:  Olympics AU

when you remember what you forgot by westernredcedar @thewesternredcedar

Summary: Oh, and we can see a runner coming now with the torch, and the crowd is simply roaring. What a moment. It’s Team Canada’s captain, gold medalist Jack Zimmermann.

Not to Win by foryouandbits @foryouandbits

Summary: The most important thing is not to win but to take part. Eric Bittle, 2014 US National Champion, is selected to compete in the men's individual figure skating competition in the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. Jack Zimmermann, Captain of the Providence Falconers, is selected to the hockey team for Canada. Eric and Jack meet in Sochi and form a quick bond in a place where emotions and adrenaline run high. Can it last when the games are over, or are they just another Olympic hookup?

Until I Can Say It Myself by westernredcedar @thewesternredcedar

Summary: What is a deeply closeted Jack Zimmermann to do when faced with an adorable ice dancer who just wants to get to know him? He has no clue of course, but at the Olympics, surrounded by friends and foes, who knows what might happen.

Now That You Don't Have to be Perfect (You Can be Good) by There_Once_Was_A_Girl @there-once-wasa-girl

Summary: Eric Bittle had been put into kindergarten when he was six instead of five. He was a year older than all the other kids in his grade. This was extremely significant.

bliss (is on the other side of this) by onawingandaswear @whoacanada (a WIP)

Summary: In another life, Jack Zimmermann is an Olympian, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, and the high-flying Captain of the Montréal Canadiens. On the surface, his world is as perfect as his career would suggest, but in reality, Jack is struggling to balance superstardom with a tenuous personal life. Between his GM father threatening to put him on IR, a partner Jack can’t be seen in public with, and the ever-present haze of a secret mental illness, Jack’s life is a mess he’d love to ignore. Now, a rogue Cup Day wish will give Jack a chance to see a life where he wasn't afraid to go public.

we are climbing higher by jamesiee

Summary: At 1:30 pm on April 4 2017, the NHL Commissioner officially announces that the NHL will not participate in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

At 1:37pm, Jack finishes his thesis presentation and his phone buzzes a couple minutes later.

Or, Jack doesn't go to Samwell. The NHL doesn't go to the 2018 Olympics. Jack and Bitty still go to South Korea.

we can do this, if you want by KikiJ

Summary: Eric Bittle, working with an international catering company, is working behind the scenes at the Winter Olympics and it's a dream come true. He expects to have a blast, meet cool people, possibly make some friends and do some potential networking. It's not a huge surprise, then, when he meets NHL Hockey Player and Olympian (representing Canada) Jack Zimmermann, but it's still pretty exciting. Eric has no idea why he starts flirting with the guy, but maybe it'll work out in his favor.

Reblog and show these amazing authors some love.

[wrathofthestag]

There are so many great OMGCP fics out there that I love to read, and rec, again and again. I decided to group some together, by theme, and share them with you.  I’ll be posting one or two themes a month. Most of the fics are Zimbits-centric.

Theme:  Authors/Writers and Photographers

T'es Beau, Tu Sais by Angryspaceravenclaw  (An all-time favorite! <3)

Summary: Trying desperately to get through his writer's block and get distance from a bad breakup and online trolls, Eric Bittle takes up some advice and books a little B&B in a little seaside village in England.  He expects the quiet, and the friendly owners.  But he does not expect the sudden, whirlwind relationship with the other secretive, and unbelievably attractive second guest who seems to be attempting to escape his own demons.

The Book of Love by RabbitRunnah  @doggernaut​

Summary: Writing wasn’t a career Jack saw for himself, ever. Not when he was hockey’s boy wonder. Not when he was a 19-year-old NHL rookie, just trying to play through his anxiety until he couldn’t anymore. Not when he came back and led his team to a Stanley Cup win, and had two more good years before a torn ACL ended his career. Not even when he went to college and took a creative writing class because he needed one more elective to graduate.

It wasn’t until, on the advice of his therapist, he picked up a notebook and pen and started recording his feelings about his childhood and too-short NHL career that he realized he enjoyed writing, was maybe even good at it.

the kind who asks you for a little sugar by the_one_that_fell  @alphacrone​

Summary:  Jack moves into a boring Massachusetts neighborhood, quiet and dull and just perfect for a novelist looking to write his next book. And then he meets his next door neighbor.

Bubbles! by There_Once_Was_A_Girl  @there-once-wasa-girl​

Summary: Eric Bittle meets Jack Zimmermann when he applies to be his assistant. Jack is a famous photographer in need of an extra pair of hands on a round the world photoshoot.

All the Sights of Paris by writingonpostcards  @17piesinseptember​

Summary:  Eric and Jack meet atop the Eiffel Tower. It's the beginning of a few whirlwind days together, but Eric's leaving soon. How much can really happen between them in just a few days?

Now generally I never include my own work in these, but I’m including one of my fics because this category was a bit small and this fic is one of my most favorite fics I’ve written.

The Very Thought of You 

Summary: Novelist Jack Zimmermann has the worst case of writer’s block as the entire city of New York waits for his follow-up book. Will anything help?  Enter Eric Bittle, the guy who moves in upstairs and changes his life in more ways than one.